1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 298 The New Business of the Guangzhou Office

"Master, it's time to leave."

"Understood." Wang Qin responded, and carefully put a stack of "Haihan Bank Notes" with a face value of 1000 taels and the transaction documents of both parties into a thick paper clip bag, and then put them into a small rosewood briefcase , close the lid.This flat, square file box was a gift he got when he opened an account at the Haihan Development Bank, and the name of the recipient was engraved on the back of the box.

According to the style of the Haihan people, all kinds of documents and bills that need to be carried with them are placed in boxes of this shape to avoid being defaced.Wang Qin had seen Mr. Shi and Mr. He of the Haihan Guangzhou Office carrying boxes of similar shapes when they went out, and they seemed to have an inexplicable style.However, the Haihan people's boxes don't seem to be made of wood, but gleaming silver, a bit like silver, but the weight seems to be very light.

Of course, Wang Qin does not know where the aluminum-magnesium alloy briefcase of the Rimowa brand comes from and how much it is worth, but even with his 17th-century vision, he can feel that the portable equipment of the Haihan people is full of style. After this gift, Wang Qin also began to have the habit of carrying briefcases with him.

Wang Qin took the briefcase out of the yard, turned around and told the housekeeper, "If anyone comes to visit, tell me that I have gone to Haihan to do the office in Guangzhou." The housekeeper nodded quickly in response.

Two months ago, on behalf of the Huizhou "Haifenghao" firm, Wang Qin negotiated a deal with the Guangdong Office to exchange ore for Haihan commodities. "Haifenghao" quickly became the number one trading firm in Huizhou Prefecture in a short period of time. Local dignitaries and dignitaries came to their door one after another, entrusting the "Haifeng" to buy the extremely scarce Haihan products on the market.In accordance with the requirements of the Haihan people, the "Haifeng" organized transport capacity to transport two batches of four shipments of ore, tin ingots, and lead ingots to Shengli Port, and exchanged them for a large number of Haihan glassware. Made a lot of money online.According to Wang Qin's own estimation, the profit obtained by the "Haifeng" in these two transactions was at least nearly ten thousand taels of silver.

Wang Qin, who contributed the most during this process, was rewarded by the big boss and bought a small courtyard in the city of Guangzhou as his place of residence. From then on, he no longer needed a long-term private room in the inn.Wang Qin's personal treatment has also improved. He even had enough energy to hire a few servants in Guangzhou, and spent a few hundred taels of silver to redeem a nobleman from a flower boat on the Pearl River. His living standard has been greatly improved compared to before. improvement.

Of course, Wang Qin is very clear about the source of his enjoyment today, so he visits the Guangzhou Office more frequently than before. Even if he has nothing to do, he will visit at least every three or five days to contact him.Why did Haihan people import tin ore and lead ore from Huizhou every month? Wang Qin didn’t know and was not interested in inquiring about it. A large number of Haihan products can obtain huge profits.

Ever since the Guangxi Office launched the business of depositing and withdrawing money between Guangzhou Shengli Port and Guangzhou Shengli Port, Wang Qin became the first batch of people to eat crabs.When placing an order at the Guangzhou Office, hand over the silver directly to the Haihan people, and then take the bank notes issued by the Haihan people to pick up the goods at Shengli Port, thus avoiding various risks that may occur when transporting tens of thousands of taels of silver across the sea , and this bank note is registered and can be reported as lost. Even if it is accidentally lost or even robbed, Wang Qin does not have to worry about actual losses.

What Wang Qin finds most convenient is that since the transactions between the "Haifeng" and the Haihan people are settled in Guangzhou, there is usually a large amount of cash turnover. But with the Haihan people, I feel much more at ease.The junior students of the nursing home stationed in Guangzhou Office are all fierce and fierce, and all of them use muskets made by Haihan.Wang Qin heard from an acquaintance of the boss that the muskets of the Haihan people are said to be more powerful than the Lumi blunderbuss equipped by the government and the army. In the whole of Guangzhou, only "Fu Ruifeng" who has a close relationship with the Haihan people can buy the Haihan people. musket.With such powerful guards, Wang Qin naturally safely and boldly deposited all the cash under the name of "Haifeng" in the Guangzhou Office.

The small sedan chair Wang Qin took left Guangzhou City from the East Gate, walked east along the main road for a short distance, and arrived outside the Guangzhou Office.

Today's Guangzhou Office is not only full of people at the gate, but also a lot of sedan chairs and carriages parked at the back gate.Two months ago, the people of Haihan built a courtyard behind the courtyard of the Guangzhou Office, and hung up the signboard of "Hainhan Development Bank".Since then, the back door of the Guangzhou Office has also become lively. Not only bearers and carriages are here to attract customers, there are laborers who come here to find work, and there are also some small shops selling hot food nearby. Stalls—their business target is of course not the rich men in the Guangzhou Office, but the ordinary people here waiting for work.

After Wang Qin got off the sedan chair, he ran into an acquaintance: "Isn't this the shopkeeper of the horse? It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Wang Qin has been in Guangzhou for a long time, and he has gradually become familiar with the contacts on the ground. He naturally recognizes the horse shopkeeper of "Yongfeng Clothing".It is said that "Yongfeng Cloth" is the number one fabric supplier of the Haihan people. Among the fabrics purchased by the Haihan people from the mainland, more than [-]% are supplied by "Yongfeng Cloth".Moreover, the Haihan people have a huge demand for fabrics, and Wang Qin doesn't quite understand why they buy so much fabrics and return to Shengli Port. Could it be that they make clothes and sell them back to Guangzhou?

Shopkeeper Ma responded with a smile: "Boss Wang, you're here to get the money again! Would you like to call some laborers to wait for you first, so that you can carry the money out for you later."

Wang Qin also responded with a smile: "Shopkeeper Ma really likes to joke! I despise such a small business to support my family, how can I compare with Shopkeeper Ma, laugh at me!"

Outside the gate of this newly built courtyard, there are two stone Pixiu standing one person tall, above the gate there is a plaque with the words "Haihan Development Bank" on a black background, and on both sides of the gate there are guards in black clothes and black trousers.The guards guarding the gate saw that the two men were carrying the rosewood briefcases presented by their families, so they nodded and signaled them to enter by themselves.

The courtyard is divided into north, east and south areas, with a small patio in the middle.On the south side is the "Business Office" for general money deposit and withdrawal business, where deposits and withdrawals of money below 2 taels can be handled.To the east is the "Senior Business Office", which is responsible for handling more than 2 taels of money deposit and withdrawal business, but Wang Qin has never entered it once.To the north is the "Special Affairs Processing Room", which specializes in handling all kinds of troubles encountered by customers, such as disputes over the fineness of money, reporting the loss of bank notes, and so on.In order to prevent the first-time customers from being confused, a special sign was set up in the courtyard, briefly explaining the different functions of the three areas.

It was not the first time for the two of them to come here to do business, and they went to the "Business Office" directly south to go through the formalities. The layout in the "business room" is also very simple. A black marble counter runs across the room, dividing the whole room into two parts. Behind the counter are two Haihan staff who are handling business for the merchants respectively. One of them There was an open wooden box on the counter in front of the merchant, which was full of silver ingots, at least two to three thousand taels, and it seemed to be for saving money.In addition to the customers who were going through the formalities at the counter, there were several people waiting in the room, and it seemed that they would not be able to get their turn in a while.

Immediately after the two entered, a servant came over and took them to the rest seat next to them to sit down, and then quickly served hot tea and snacks, and gave them two number plates.Wang Qin picked up the number plate and looked it over, then turned his head and asked, "Master Ma, what does the number on it mean? Why are you the seventh and I am the fourth?"

"Boss Wang hasn't come here to do business recently, has he? This is a new rule established by the Haihan people." Shopkeeper Ma explained to him: "This is for the convenience of everyone's number plate. When it's your turn, someone will come to notify you." You. In this way, everyone can sit and wait slowly, without fear of disrupting the order."

"So that's how it is." Wang Qin understood clearly, nodded his head and said in praise: "Haihan people really pay attention to rules and regulations, and you can see it in the details!"

Sure enough, after the previous customer at the "Azihao" counter finished the formalities and left, a servant chanted loudly: "Customers of A[-], please go to the Jiazi counter to go through the formalities!"

After waiting for about half a stick of incense, it was Wang Qin's turn. Wang Qin got up and went to the counter, opened the briefcase, took out the bank note and handed it over: "I want to exchange 8000 taels of cash."

"Please wait a moment." After the clerk took the bank note and inspected it, he wrote a receipt and asked Wang Qin to sign it.

After Wang Qin signed the document, the clerk pulled a rapier next to the seat, and soon someone came and took the document, and after a while, someone came out with a flat trolley pushing a few boxes.

"Haihan silver, 100 taels per ingot, [-] ingots in total, do you need to check the fineness?" The clerk asked.

"No need." Wang Qin was very relieved about the quality of the silver ingots sent out here.He was a little worried when he took out the cash for the first few times, and asked for an inspection. The clerks used silver scissors to randomly cut the silver ingots face to face. Facts have proved that the silver ingots of the Haihan people are better than most miscellaneous silver on the market, and belong to the same category as official silver. a notch.

Of course, it is not so easy to deposit silver. If the silver is obviously not good enough, the Haihan people will ask for color folding.In order to avoid such disputes, Haihan people have also been promoting bearer bank notes to customers like Wang Qin - so that they do not need to take out cash from Haihan people's warehouse when they trade with other people , Just give the bank note to someone else.However, Wang Qin still has some doubts about this, and always feels that anonymity seems to lack a sense of security.

"Do you need escort service?" The clerk continued to ask.

"Yes." Wang Qin nodded. 8000 taels of silver weighed several hundred catties, and it was not something he could carry around by himself.

"Local or remote?"

"Local, let's go to Guangzhou City." Wang Qin paused and asked again: "Can we still escort money to other places now?"

Since the opening of "Haihan Development Bank", it has been providing the service of escorting silver to the door in Guangzhou. Of course, this service is not free, but charges one-thousandth of the escort fee.Local merchants generally do not choose this service, and bring a few servants to transport the money back.However, out-of-town businessmen like Wang Qin are generally willing to pay for the money to be delivered directly to their homes by the Haihan people in consideration of safety issues.But before that, Wang Qin had never heard of the ability to send money to other places.

"This is a new service we recently launched. Within Guangdong and Guangxi, you can go to Zhaoqing, Shaozhou, Nanxiong, Huizhou, and Chaozhou, and in the direction of Fujian, you can go to Zhangzhou, Tingzhou, Quanzhou, Yanping and Xing Huafu and Fuzhoufu are expected to open within two months." The clerk pointed at the documents on the table and introduced them to Wang Qin.

Wang Qin asked in disbelief: "This... you have even opened a bodyguard bureau now? Is there a special bodyguard team to guard bodyguards?"

The clerk shook his head and said, "I don't know who will escort the transport."

"Let me explain this to Boss Wang."

Wang Qin looked back when he heard the voice, and hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "So it's Mr. Shi!"

"Boss Wang, do you have time to chat alone?" Schneider also smiled and cupped his hands.

"Yes, yes, since President Shi invited you, no matter how busy you are, you still have time!" Wang Qin responded repeatedly.For a businessman of his level, most of his contacts with Schneider are about business, and he rarely has the opportunity to chat privately with Schneider like some local businessmen.Now that all the wealth and honor are tied to the people of Haihan, Wang Qin naturally attaches great importance to this kind of invitation.

"Count the money of Boss Wang, and arrange for someone to send it to Boss Wang's house as soon as possible, without any mistakes!" Schneider gave a few instructions to the clerk behind the counter, and then said to Wang Qin: "Boss Wang, please!"

Feeling the gazes cast on him by everyone in the room, Wang Qin was really satisfied with his vanity. Regular customers all know that Mr. Shi of the Guangzhou Office seldom appears here to greet clients—he is usually in charge of Trade negotiations rarely show up at the bank. Only big merchants like the local "Furuifeng" or the "Chenghai Bank" in Chaozhou prefecture who handle banking business are eligible to be received by him in person.

After leaving the bank's yard, Schneider took Wang Qin directly to the inner courtyard and into a study.After Wang Qin entered the room, besides the two acquaintances Schneider and He Xi, there was also a middle-aged man in Haihan costume.

"Let me introduce, this is Mr. Tao Donglai Tao." Schneider introduced each other for the two: "This is the boss Wang Qinwang of Huizhou 'Haifeng'."

The two saluted each other, said a few words of admiration, and then took their seats.Wang Qin noticed very sensitively that the two directors of the Guangzhou Office were sitting on both sides of Mr. Tao, and he seemed to have heard that the leader of the Haihan people was named Tao before, so he asked the identity of the middle-aged man in front of him. Already expected seven or eight points.

"There is no other purpose in inviting Boss Wang here today. I just want to ask Boss Wang what thoughts and opinions he has during the period of using our Haihan Bank's business." It’s just to provide better service to customers like Haifeng, if you think we have any room for improvement, feel free to speak up, and everyone can refer to it for details.”

Wang Qin said in astonishment: "The service of Haihan Bank, I naturally... think it is very good."

Schneider smiled and said: "Boss Wang, don't be nervous. We are not interrogating you, but just asking for your opinion. If you can't find anything wrong, you can also talk about what services you want our bank to provide, or Is there something else in the business that you don’t quite understand?”

Wang Qin suddenly remembered the conversation at the counter just now, and asked casually: "Just now I heard that money can be escorted to a different place? What's going on?"

Schneider explained: "This is also a new service we have launched according to the requirements of customers. For example, if a customer from other places like you, Boss Wang, needs us to escort a large amount of cash to Huizhou safely, then we will send a professional armed Escort team to complete this matter, and the fees charged will be much lower than traditional escort agencies, and in order to give customers peace of mind, we will also provide a full compensation service for lost darts.”

As the largest foreign trade port in Guangdong and Guangxi, Guangzhou has gathered a large number of businessmen from Guangdong, Guangxi and even other provinces. Some of the foreign businessmen want to transport large amounts of cash back to the local area, and there are certain security problems.In recent years, pirates have been rampant along the coast of Fuguang, and the risk of transporting a large amount of silver by sea is extremely high. Land transport has become the common choice of more and more merchants who have such needs.But in terms of the garrison strength of only one platoon after the two additions and adjustments of the Garrison Office in Guangxi, at most it can do a local armed escort business, which can be used as a military subsidy more or less, but it is somewhat difficult to undertake gold and silver escorts from other places It's too late.Therefore, in the initial stage of the establishment of "Haihan Development Bank", the Guangzhou Office did not launch related services.

However, recently "Furuifeng" has seen signs of the bank's development, and took the initiative to come to ask for a joint venture.Naturally, Schneider would not distribute the bank's shares to outsiders. One must know that the "Haihan Development Bank" is the prototype of the future central bank. In any case, it is impossible for this share to be held by private individuals, let alone a merchant of Ming Dynasty.After rejecting Li Jifeng's proposal, Schneider proposed another cooperation method to them, setting up an agency in the nature of an escort agency to undertake the task of escorting foreign gold and silver from the "Haihan Development Bank".

As a large merchant with a number of chain stores in Guangdong and Guangxi, the geographical layout of "Furuifeng" does have advantages beyond the reach of the Crossing Group, and Schneider hopes that "Furuifeng" can make more effective use of its previous layout. The existing business model relying on terminal sales is gradually transformed into a channel-based and logistics-based business model-of course, neither Li Jifeng nor Li Nai can understand these terms at all. They only care about this "new money-making model" that Schneider said "How to operate, how to get more profits, and what is the relationship between opening an escort agency and the new business model.

(End of this chapter)